The Mets catching situation

Here's an article that appeared in today's Newsday, about a possible Mets trade for a catcher.

Ken Davidoff/Newsday

"Earlier this offseason, the Mets asked the Rangers about catcher Gerald Laird, just as they did last year, a person familiar with the situation said.There hasn't been much discussion there lately; the Mets, as we all know, have prioritized the renovation of their pitching staff. But the fact that the Mets checked in speaks to how difficult it is to build a good catching crew.Last year at this time, the Mets thumped their chest about putting together the tandem of Brian Schneider and Ramon Castro. After suffering through nearly a full decade of Mike Piazza and Paul Lo Duca behind the plate, the Mets looked forward to having strong defense at catcher.The tradeoff, not shockingly, was poor offense. Schneider, Castro, Raul Casanova, Robin son Cancel and Gustavo Molina combined for a .324 on-base percentage, 12th-best among catching corps in the National League, and a .378 slugging percentage, which placed them eighth. Thanks to the Elias Sports Bureau for the 411.

Laird put up a .329 OBP and .398 SLG in 95 games for the Rangers, a rare team with catching to trade. They have Laird, Max Ramirez, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden and are looking to trade from this surplus in return for young pitching.It's also interesting to note that Schneider did indeed help the Mets defensively. According to a statistic called "probabilistic model of range," compiled by David Pinto at baseballmusings.com, the Mets' catchers put up the majors' second-best defense, behind only the Brewers."